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Niños Robados. Gestohlene Kinder. Stolen children.

Exhibition|An exhibition about the removal of children from their families as a means of political repression

  • Goethe-Institut Toronto , Toronto

  • German & English
  • free
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Ninos Robados. Stolen children. Gestohlene Kinder - Quadratisch ©Ausstellung Stolen Children / Archiv Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo / Privatarchiv Sébastian Rosenfeld

Ninos Robados. Stolen Children. Gestohlene Kinder ©Ausstellung Stolen Children / Archiv Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo / Privatarchiv Sébastian Rosenfeld

The loss of a child – whether through death or illness, disappearance, or violent action – is one of the worst experiences for families. Often, the mere threat of taking the children away or causing them harm is enough to make parents compliant.

The exhibition highlights on 12 panels how families and communities were destroyed in the 20th century through the removal of children. For this exhibition, biographies of those affected from Canada, Nazi Germany, the GDR and other countries are presented in their respective historical contexts.

Nazi Germany abducted children from occupied territories as part of its racist conquest and extermination war. In the GDR, the threat of taking away children was part of the repertoire of political repression and discipline. In Canada, children were forcibly taken from indigenous communities for racist reasons, to make them adapt to "white society." In this way, families as well as languages and cultures were destroyed.

The exhibition was developed by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Injustice in collaboration with the Elisabeth Käsemann Foundation and was presented for the first time in November/December 2023 at the Red Town Hall in Berlin.

For further reading, we recommend the following books:

Sophie Hardach: Unser geteilter Sommer / Confession with blue horses
Matthias Jügler: Maifliegenzeit
Matthias Jügler: Die Verlassenen

Available in our Onleihe.

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